>^ c e . v ccx^c "r C >^- >-, <-<:- «.- < ' ^ .^ ^ o v< C" GGC G_G 5 3- -r rf^7 <- \x GCi ,^- ■^v-oki'^ ^-^<-c- C"^ GC_ G_^ Sc^G^ '< <^<^ V5<^< «dG<< C erf r t CC CS^CC^ «C cci ^c cc^fr 0*3^5 cc. ■«CL CC «" • c iC_f: S r" ■'( CCC CCc •C^CCLC 1 < rtunate victims with scanda- lous impositions. It is only the other day that a lad living near us in one of the streets of the Bay State metropolis, committed suicide while in a state of religious frenzy inspired by spiritualistic meetings, and conversations with noted mediums. There could be no drink in this instance ; the child was but fifteen, and yet he left this bright and beautiful world, with a life useful to himself and his fellow-men before him, because he had had his brain turned by the machinations of the wicked. Religious fanatics, broken hearts, jealous furies, idiotic and maniacal rage, brutalized man- hood, lustful insanity, daring scoundrelism, contempt of law, and 22 the hundreds of other causes of unnatural death ; do ye all proceed, as our fanatical acquaintance informs us, from drink, or are ye not rather the result of our advanced state of civilization in this nine- teenth century? LEAP IV. If we Were to assume that the doctrines of the prohibitionists were correct, and that it is possible to stop the sale of the various beverages which, since Adam, have been used by man for pleasure and excitement, for sickness and despair, we could not admit the justice of a law which visits the crime on the innocent party, and lets the guilty go free. Who is the criminal, the buyer or the seller? Why is it that these State governments of this free and enlightened country see fit to attempt the ruin of a community which can show as many noble and benevolent men as any other, and who represent in almost every place a large portion of its capital ? If a butcher, with his beaming countenance and blue apron, sells a pound of flesh to a dyspeptic individual with the look of misery ever present, and that dyspeptic, finding the same steak tough, endures after its consumption the torments of a warm region, is it the butcher's fault for selling the meat, or the dyspeptic's for buy- ing and consuming it? Again, if the aforesaid dj^speptic sallies forth under an indigestible hallucination that he is a madman, and commits some deed to prove his claim to the title, must we lay the deed at the door of the butcher, the dyspeptic, or the meat ? If the butcher, close up the meat shops, and prohibit the sale of meat. In our late civil war, what untold misery resulted from the use of firearms ; suppose it were possible to prohibit fire- arms, would the brethren of the North and South have sat down calmly together and smoked the T. D. of peace, or would they have made some substitute for rifles and bayonets, for muskets and sabres — some substitute yet more deadly and killing — and rushed at each other with the hate inspired by the bickering of a hundred years ? You, my dear sir or madam, whose impenetrable countenance can so well conceal that inward heart of which we all possess a share, where are our buried confidences so sacred to all but our- selves, what would be the result in your case ? apply it to theirs I 23 Hardly a day passes of late but we read accounts in the news- papers of suicides of every description, and from every cause. We hold the suicidist in great contempt, regarding him in almost every case as a moral coward, who is afraid to remain boldly on earth and fight out the battle of life, because he has doubts of the future or the present ; but, nevertheless, he is useful to us now as an illustration of the injustice of prohibition, which though so pal- pable to us as a sober-minded, unprejudiced observer, appears to be so little regarded by the immaculate disciples of cold water. The pale-faced, trembling wretch, or the bold, resolute, but maniacal wretch, who rushes into the druggist's and demands in piping or sepulchral tones a pint of laudanum, cannot be refused, if he but frame a lie as regards the usage he is going to make of the poison* The lie is easily uttered (those who fear neither death nor God are not likely to scruple about a lie) ; he goes home, locks himself in his room, takes the deadly liquid, and becomes acquainted with the Great Mystery. Now, who is responsible, the druggist or the man ; we may say the man ; the im maculates, the druggist. Then let us stop the sale of poisons of all natures. " But there is no analogy in these cases," remarks our disapprov- ing friend. " Pardon_us, there is. Do you not think that the habit- ual drunkard is perfectly well aware that he is rapidly ruining his health, and that the gratification of his appetite must end in death (as must the gratification of any other appetite, to great excess) ; it is a slow, lingering suicide ; a degrading, debasing death, which only the most brutalized mind, can resort to for any length of time. We are willing to acknowledge that excessive drinking renders the mind insensible to fine impulses and noble thoughts, but so does an undue indulgence in eating, or in other human passions. Can we prohibit everything? Can the immaculate few of cold water prohibit the Asiatic cholera and other scourges which devastate our cities, and render so many empty chairs around our tables ; can they prohibit the sale of all edibles in case they may contain substances injurious to health. An orange is good and nutritious, equally so for children and adults ; even our smiling, petite, great-eyed, and ever-joyous baby, at once the pride and plague of our households, may have one ; but if the young scamp on a tour of exploration in Baby-land hap- pens to fall in with a basket of golden fruit as big as himself, and thereupon proceeds to testify his delight by suffocating himself, and ruining his clothes with an enormous quantity of orauge, he 24 fc may sicken and die. What killed him, his wilfulness, the orange, or the dealer? the dealer of course, for if the dealer had not sold the oranges the child could not have eaten them. Prohibit, then, the sale of fruit. We regret, fair ladies, that in the course of our cynicism, and dismay at the patience of a people who calmly rest under such an indignity and outrage as the present Maine law, that we are obliged, metaphorically speaking, to tread on your corns, for there can no use denying that we all have corns. Arsenic we know to be a very dangerous and subtile poison, doing the work of its master death in a complete and rapid manner ; but arsenic used continually, and taken in small quantities, is a great beautifier of the complexion, transforming the most obstinate skins into a fair, pure whiteness dangerously seductive no doubt to our friends of the mustaches and shirt collars ; but beauty must pay dearly for fictitious charms. Neither the new and wonderful process of enamelling which can make ninety a Venus, or the older and clum- sier adjuncts of the toilet, such as rouge, white-lead, lily-white, etc., can be used with impunity ; arsenic is the most rapid destroyer of them all. When in the hour of death, the poor vain spirit that has rapidly faded away, and whose beaut}' can no longer avail it, bewails its fatuity, who is it is to blame? — not the arsenic, not the pitiful and miserable vanity of the thing of earth, but the druggist who dwelleth in happy innocence of poisoned women, and who, wretched man, is accustomed to connect arsenic with rats. Let us, then, prohibit the druggists. Another gratification of the sense which once was confined to sunnier climes than these, but has of late been introduced with much success among our populace, bids fair to add another to the wondrous number of means of dying, possessed by the victims of drink ; it is the English opium, the Indian hasheesh, the curious substance that conjures up beautiful dreams and ecstatic visions, and renders the eaters thereof oblivious for a time of the very practical and monotonous existence which most of us lead here. Afuer repeated indulgence in the pleasure, the victim declines by slow degrees and dies ; many are succumbing to the effects of the noxious seed daily. The dealer, of course, is guilty, not the man. When the cold-water league of virtue and benevolence can pro- hibit the world from moving, then, and then alone, can they con- trol the thousand-and-one causes that combine to produce prema- ture death. If we allow a portion of these to the influence of drink? it must be a very small portion indeed. Drink alone, unless 25 some wretch succumbs to the delirium tremens, is by no means destructive. The passions supposed to be aroused by the influence of drink, are, in general, the results of intemperate rage, which is itself a far more deadly poison. Then what motive have our sham temperance advocates, in prohibiting one evil out of thousands, that are daily destroying a portion of our populace ? What especial motive have they in ruining a class of men who are evei^where, according to our personal observation, as noble, disinterested, and generous, and as religious also, as the prohibitionists themselves? What interest have they in attempting to crush one trade, while thousands of others are thriving, productive of as much or more harm ? We are all answerable for selling, administering, or preach- ing something productive of harm, though we may be innocent as the angels of heaven of intending it. " The modiste who sells a bonnet to cette cliarmante femme what harm can come of it? Jealousy, envy, hatred, malice, despair, and a hundred other evil passions may be generated through the agency of that bonnet, but yet the modiste is not held responsible for the injury she is the cause of. She is not branded like Cain, made an outcast on the face of the earth ; she is not cast into prison, her famity ruined, and her husband despoiled. No ; she is engaged in a legitimate trade ! Here is a great confectionery, a confectionery that daily sells, and has to sell to succeed, thousands of pounds of candies of eveiy nature. Daily there are children dying around us from the immoderate use of sweetmeats ; in many of those tempting decoc- tions it has been discovered of late that there are poisonous sub- stances, which in time exercise a deleterious influence from which the child who uses them may never entirely recover. Then there are those oval, white lozenges, with the sweet love phrases that seem so sensible and apropos to us in youth, and so ridiculous as the years pass by, and we reach the true manhood of life, the mid- dle age ; who has ever compiled a statement of the amount of mis- chief worked in confiding hearts through those depraved lozenges? In the heat of summer we have ice-cream to cool us. Heated by a promenade in a sun of one hundred and twenty degrees, albeit we be attired in the lightest fashion, we rush into Copeland's on Court and Washington Streets, Boston, and order an immediate ice-cream, in a tone indicative of intense warmth, both of body and mind. Never pausing to consider the danger, the heartless confectioner 26 places before us the destructive yet enticing iceberg of cream ; we gormandize, are seized with spasms, and die. " Ridiculous man," our friend, the admirer of tea and other tem- perance fluids, exclaims, " how could you be so foolish? " " My dear sir, it was not our fault ; we are poor, injured, trodden upon mortals ; why, may we ask, are those outrageous confectioners allowed to parade their enticing dainties in their windows, and lead us wretched mortals to destruction? Why not prohibit the abom- inable trade, drive it into secret places, make it twice as destruc- tive as ever, and let men allow themselves to be led into privacy and dishonor? Are these all the evils the present generation has to contend with ? No. Who of us has not at one time or another ordered a dinner out of curiosity (or an empty purse) at a cheap eating house? Who of us has not become acquainted with the mysteries of hashed rat, of fly-blown sugar, of ant-eaten crackers, of mouldy bread, of sickening coffee, and of strong toast? who of us has not had our stomachs turned by the decayed meat and pota- toes or putrid fish put before us for fifteen cents the plate ? Who is to answer for the indignities thus thrust on mankind? Who is to tell who may not become a sacrifice to hashed meat and the rest ? It (of course) is not our fault that we indulge in the gratification of our appetite ; is it, my loved attach 3 of water ? No, it is the fault of the wretch who, fearing neither God nor man, spreads be- fore us in his window an appetizing repast, and lures our soul and body to ruin. It is awful to reflect on what may be done by a per- son, ordinarily not a saint, under the influence of a bad meal, — robbery, murder, anything. Let us, then, prohibit the victuallers and drive the trade into secret places. But our friend remarks : — " Well, sir, this sarcasm of yours is very well, but it does not touch the liquor question ; you surely do not mean to say, that there is another occupation on earth that does so much evil, as that of rum." " Yes, my dear sir, we emphatically do. How much harm, for instance, do you suppose false hair does? how much deceit and shame proceeds frojm the use of switches ? Jealousy is generally an offspring of love, jealousy may lead to murder ; love may pro- ceed from a switch. The creature who looks resplendent in a pound of golden locks may not gratify with a bare poll." There is no trade on earth which is not innocently the cause of some mischief, and there are many that, knowingly, cause more harm a thousand times than that of liquor. The vendor of liquors 27 makes a pleasing array of bottles in his window, or in his bar, and waits for customers. The bottle-nosed, habitual drunkard enters, and demands liquor ; it is served to him, and he departs poorer in purse, but richer in the nose ; does he rush forth and commit a crime? No ; our habitual drunkard is generally a very shaky indi- vidual, who is quite incapable of thinking for himself, and who usually recovers consciousness next morning in the station-house, where he marches forth with the haggard crowd of common drunks. Will prohibition cure this man of drinking? No, it will only add to his idle hours, and if he be bad, cause him to revenge his forced sobriety on some innocent head. But, see, another customer enters, a man with a dozen [devils lurking in his eye, and a swaggering aspect of courage; why does he drink so eagerly and so much? Perhaps he has determined on some horrible act of crime, some long-cherished revenge on a hated enemy, but the drink will not commit the murder, it will be the fiend in the man ; were the drink impossible to obtain, think not it would stay the murderer's hand. But the bar-keeper cannot always be a judge of human nature, or a physiognomist, and why, in the name of justice, is he to blame, if he aid and abet in a deed already resolved on ? When a man bent on shuffling off this mortal coil, and becoming acquainted in the lan- guage of our mighty poet-novelist, with that old, old story, death, purchases the poisonous drug from the druggist's apprentice, is the apprentice a murderer? We have quoted two cases, — the habitual drunkard and the desperate drunkard ; these are the exceptions, but the rule, my virtuous friend of total abstinence, is men like yourself, perhaps not in social position and plethoric purse, but in morality, charity, religion, and other virtues. Men of toil need some sustenance after a day's hard labor, and, in that case, the sustenance assists and cannot injure, nor does it ; men of all classes, who wish to enjoy a social glass and a pipe or cigar with a neighbor (or if they have not been married above a month, with their wife), and in whose glasses there is no " serpent," or a very jolly, harmless one only, surely. Come to these men and try the effects of moral suasion, and they will smile and tell you (we would, too, we assure you), " We have no desire to take the pledge, my dear sir, or madam (for ladies ought to have the most influence in the good work) ; liquor has never done us any harm ; our very physicians recommend a reasonable indul- gence. Talk to the drunkards ; we are obliged to you, but really it is a waste of time to ask us to give up our harmless glass of wine 28 or ale ! " Bat go to these men and say (remember, too, they form a large majority of the people of these States), " We have closed up your rwm-shops and defj^ you to find rum, we will seize it on your persons ; we will treat you like criminals ; we will show you what we are able to do ! " and there will be a spirit of resistance raised in the breasts of those men, which will not only crush like an egg- shell the party that will trample on the liberties of the people by a monstrous and unjust law, but may once again devastate this fair land by the foul fiend of fraternal rebellion. Oh, beware, then, ye immaculate few, who are 'so anxious in your day to attain the mil- lenium, beware ! The patience of the most patient people on the face of the globe cannot exist forever, nor will the people of these States allow one body of men to be trampled upon because they are singled out for a party adjunct. Prohibit everything : the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the very water which you are so fond of, and which so often poisons ; show the Creator how unwisely he has formed the world, and how much greater and wiser you are in your mortality, and let us behold the result. Let us have another Eden, and let man and woman wander about in inno- cence all the days of their life. Prohibit the earth from moving, and then will prohibition cease to be unjust. LEAP V. As far back as history and tradition extends, we have authority to prove that men and women drank intoxicating beverages of some nature. The Old Testament informs us that Noah was drunken, and, to judge from the circumstances of the case, exceed- ingly so. In various parts of the Bible, the immoderate use of liquor is reprobated, as it should be. The Bible is the corner-stone of the Christian religion ; were it disproved, the whole fabric would fall, and on faith alone it would be hard to build another. We know from the Bible that this beautiful earth of ours was created by a beneficent Creator, and, from the very fact of the marvellous perfection of his handiwork, we know that he must be all-powerful, and in every way superior to humanity in general ; therefore do we erect temples and worship him. Our cold-water readers may have felt horrified at our criminal encouragement of moderate in- dulgence in liquors ; let us now remind them that we have the 29 greatest of all authorities to form our belief. Wiry did God place in man the taste for liquor, if he intended it should not be drank? Why did he not render it obnoxious to our senses and cause us to loathe it? Why caused he the wheat and grapes to grow, and allow man to divine the use to which they might be put? " Mere sophistry," our esteemed acquaintance remarks. " You might as well inquire why, in any temptation placed in our path, is the devil allowed to live ? " Ay, we acknowledge that, but if it has pleased the being we call God to make our senses agree- able to the sight and taste of liquor, and to place in the ground such substances as will produce liquor, if, we say, he has been pleased to put the temptation in our path, and thus render it impossible for man to live without the knowledge of liquor, what presumption must puny mortality have, when it dares defy the Godhead, and say to the Almighty, " We like not your laws or temptations, and, at least, intend to have the regulation of these States in our hands " ; surely the result will be that the wrath of heaven will be called down upon a Godless people ! Hundreds of millions of the earth's inhabitants, of the same God, though different tenets, celebrate the last supper of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ under the name of the Sacrament. What were the articles used at that divine feast? In His parting' from His disciples, at that solemn hour when the betrayer of Jesus dipped his hand with Him into the same dish, wine was forever rendered sacred by the Holy Jesus: the perfect man, the founder of Christian faith, the One who came to show us that there was a God and that He was merciful, drank wine and gave it to Peter — the rock on which He built his church — and his other disciples. It seems sacrilegious to comment ludicrously upon the divine moments, so dear to the Christian faith, but can we not, with some show of truth, draw a comparison between Pilate and his myrmidons and the Major of Massachusetts and his police ? It would have been a scene worthy the pen of a Sterne or a Dickens, and the pencil of a Cruikshank, if, at that holy moment, when the renowned twelve were eating their last meal with the Holiest and Wisest of them all, Iscariot and a score of State police had entered and declared the liquor law in force in the Holy land. Can that be wrong which Jesus did ? Why drank He not cold water, and give it to his dis- ciples ? Was He ruining the souls and bodies of the holy twelve by giving them wine? Why did He offer the fatal cup? While we may vainly conjecture the true cause of the creation of this won- 30 drous sphere by God, certain it is that there are numerous influ- ences for good or evil, which He has placed with us to be conquered or yielded to ; these influences may be termed good and evil spirits, temptations, etc., but if, as is generally acknowledged, God is all- powerful, He must have foreseen that Adam would partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Had it not been for this hankering after forbidden fruit, the world would not have been populated, and the liquor law unknown. If it was God's pleasure, then, to place liquor in the earth (whether regarded as a good or evil influence), and to open the eyes of men to the fact that it was in the earth, we would wish to know what fatuity can oppose the will of men to God, and how you, my virtuous friend, the prohibitory genius, can ally prohibition with religion, when the two are diametrically opposed to each other. Listen to the testi- mony of the New Testament, the universal law of God among Christian nations (we give our friends the credit of being some- what better than heathens, or else this chapter were lost). In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter XI, verse 19, may be found the following words : " The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say behold a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners ; but wisdom is justified of her children." What a world of meaning to the prohibitionist is there in that verse ; could the only perfect person that ever lived on earth, do wrong? Who are the Sadducees and Pharisees of the present day? How many Pecksniffian individuals do these enlightened States con- tain ? Christ not only drank wine himself, but gave it to others ! At the time the great preacher was doing His noble work in Pales- tine, thousands were watching his motions to learn the good from the evil ; if Christ by a few words had spoken abhorrently of drink- ing, not only those thousands, but the whole world of true Christians at the present day would have abstained, and would abstain here- after from drink ! But it was otherwise ; and so, according to our friend's creed, this indivisible part of God, Christ Jesus, is guilty of the sin of ruining men's souls instead of saving them. He en- couraged nuisances, and if He, the sainted king of kings, lived in our enlightened New England of to day, he would be (as in the ancient times) proclaimed a malefactor, a disturber of the peace, and a poisoner of our commonwealths ! It matters not the strength of that which He drank ; all beverages from beer up to alcohol, are, in a measure, intoxicating. Medford rum was then unknown, 31 but wine was cultivated assiduously, as we are informed tens of times in the New Testament. Again, in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew, verses 27, 28, 29, it says : " And he (Jesus) took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, * Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in my father's king- dom.' " We are well aware that sophistry and intelligence combined can twist this phrase into a thousand different meanings, Anglican, Ro- man, Episcopalian, Unitarian, and many other " ans," but we think that there never was a clearer narration of facts written than the books of the New Testament, nor any history so well supported by four different testimonies as the four books by different authors of the life of Jesus. Then what inference must we draw from the words of the Godhead itself? why, that wine should not only be drank and tolerated on earth, but also is used in heaven; if the angels and all the hosts of heaven are criminal, we are dumb. The prohibitionists must surely have some comfort in dying, knowing that there is work for them in a sphere which we always considered better than any part of earth, but now find to be worse than New England ! ! Though wine is allowed in heaven, it must not be per- mitted in New England. " But," says my friend, by this time in a state of nervous agitation, and slightly dumfoundered apparently by our arguments, " there was war in heaven, but we are not there- fore to hold that war is good ! " So there was, but the war was not commended by the Christ (a part of God) as was the wine ; and, mark, not only does He drink, bless, and consecrate the wine, but tells his disciples that it is his blood. In the second chapter of the gospel according to St. John may be found these words : " And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was with him. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee, my time is not yet come. His mother saith unto the ser- vants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of purifying the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto 32 the m, Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw out now, and bear to the governor of the feast. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was (but the servants which drew the water knew), the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the begin- ing doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk then that which is worse ; but thou hast kept the good wine until now ! " Now, if He who made the universe considered wine deleterious in its influence on health and morals, is it probable that he would have allowed His beloved son (whether we regard him while on earth as part of G-od, or merely perfect man) to turn this water into wine? Is it not probable that Jesus would have rebuked His mother and the company for wishing for that which was evil, instead of creating the evil, and thus setting an example for all ages to follow ! In this case the water of the prohibitionist was trans- formed into the wine of the license man, and by Christ Himself! In the fifteenth chapter of St. John, Christ says, " I am the true vine ; my father is the husbandman." He had millions of other similes to choose from, and yet He chose the vine, to illustrate His meaning. In Christ's many exhortations to the people of those an- cient times, we find the crimes that we are to avoid distinctly pro- claimed, and reiterated in various instances, Alas, how few of us heed them in this year of grace 1872 ! But in no case do we find an allusion to drinking, which, on the contrary, the divine man encour- aged by precept, action, and example ; there can be no doubt, that Jesus commended the moderate use of wine. " Well, acknowledging that" says my friend, now thoroughly eclipsed, " wine is a very light liquor, doing little harm ; let us abolish the sale of the stronger fluids." Two reasons may be given to show the impossibility of this. First, it would be another injustice put on the poor man's shoulders for the rich man's com- fort ; and, second, every liquor that ever has been thought of since liquor first was known, would be hereafter termed wine. We pro- nounce the prohibitory law a Godless one, because it pleased God at the creation to place in the world good and evil influnces, — he saw his work, and that it was good — and why is frail and wretched man to rise up rebellious, and attempt to dispute the wisdom of the Creator? The following views of an eminent English divine, anent " free- dom and sobriety," have come to our notice since the above was written. 33 " The Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Magee, whose speeches in England would be worth reading on any subject, and who goes further than most men in favor of stringent regulation of the liquor traffic, utterly denounces a prohibitory law. In a late address the bishop remarks, c If I am given the choice, I should say it would be much better, that England should be free, than that England should be sober/" LEAF VI. CONCLUSION. In framing laws for the world or for any country, be it monar- chical or republican, the first axiom must ever be that nothing impure, improper, irreligious, or immoral can proceed from the fountain-head of legislation ; and although it is admitted that laws may be enacted which time and circumstance render it necessary to amend or repeal, such action ought to originate from the highest power in the land ; if otherwise, it would give rise to the anomaly of a house divided in itself, which can never stand. Thus the laws of God are supreme, and laws enacted by man in opposition thereto would be unnatural and untenable ; likewise, laws enacted by a municipality conflicting with the general laws of the country would lead to confusion, and often to injustice, and to antagonistic positions between the government and the munici- pality. In the United States, while congress enacts the laws, each State has supreme power to pass local statutes ; the constitution, however, wisely provides that the laws passed by the State legisla- ture must not conflict with those passed by congress. Now we are aware that the importation and manufacture of wines, liquors, ale, cider, etc., is permitted by the United States ; nay, that tariff and internal revenue duties are collected on these articles of consumption, not in any one particular State, but tn every State of the Union, and let it be well understood that these duties are not collected for the importation and manufacturer, unless for consumption in the United States, if otherwise, they can be bonded for foreign countries. We have in every one of the New England States, custom houses and internal revenue offices, and officers of both without number, employed in collecting the 5 34 several duties for consumption of articles (it seems almost incred- ible), the use of which the State legislature prohibits. The electors in these States who send representatives to the general courts of the State are likewise electors for members of congress, and it seems passing strange that, while they insist on prohibitory legislation in these few States, as a measure of reform and morality, they ignore it as a benefit for the whole country. If the measure is good, say we, abolish the importation and manufacture of the evil ; if bad, do not force it on a minority of the States, by a minority of electors ; if the latter minority is denied, risk a vote of the electors of each New England State, and the number of Anti-Prohibitionists brought out, will be, we boldly assert, ten to one, if a full vote and an honest opinion can be attained. We have considered the collection of duties on these goods, and we now proceed to the more gross abuse occasioned by the connection of federal and State laws. Monstrous as it would seem, it is nev- ertheless a fact, that the federal government exacts a license fee from every rectifier, of two hundred dollars ; from every wholesale dealer, of one hundred ; and from every retail dealer, of twenty-five dollars per annum, granting those several parties license to carry on their several aforesaid avocations at certain named places of business in the several New England States, well aware that such avocations are rendered illegal by the State legislature, thus giving license for a criminal act, receiving money from unlawful sources, and countenancing, abetting, and encouraging the violation of that State law which they, in opposition to all common sense and jus- tice, pronounce constitutional. The federal government collects, in addition monthly, one per cent upon all sales of over and above $25,000 per annum ; that is to say, the government receives one hundredth part of the amount realized from a traffic made criminal by these States, and thus clearly becomes a participator and partner in the crime committed ; yet the government escapes punishment while the individual must suffer. If this chapter is read by any legislator, in any other, even the most tyrannical, country on the face of the globe, we would be accused of drawing upon our imag- ination, as such flagrant injustice and inconsistency could never be believed ; and we cannot help but think our own government and those rare few of our so-called statesmen who are statesmen, would blush at the anomaly here laid bare. We must also remind the prohibitionist, that it is not honest to 35 draw gain from an illegal and criminal traffic, and yet he does so every hour of his existence ; the greater portion of the enormous war debt, a share of which he owes, is paid out of the liquor traffic, and the greater portion of the yearly estimate for the necessary public expenditures, both general, State, and local, of which license a share falls on him, is collected from thos e who deal in the pro- hibited articles. The connection of laws here pointed out, divests the public mind of the power of distinguishing good from evil ; a local statute con demns what a general statute allows ; confusion reigns supreme ; the citizen fails to fathom how that can be criminal in Boston which is legal in New York, or how he can be punished for an act encour aged by the highest authority whose license he holds. Thus crim inals are created who would have been honest men , respect for the laws is lost, as not sustained by public opinion ; and the ultimate result may lead to greater evils than the late revolution. Beware of encroachments on liberty ; the beginning we have before us ; the end none can see. THE END. eC c r-«*cc " C c C «K!^C'' <- < :c'c < '<"" «^ < ""<"" _' ~ C v'' C " "ex -C Z «L- «:«; < cr tcT